Page 37 of Bleed
“Head in the game, Reaper.” I remind myself, climbing over a stack of shiny metal beams lying on their sides, heading into the bone work of the building, starting the hunt.
I can see the pink of her jacket, and the sun shining off her helmet as she dips into what looks like it’ll become a large department store when completed. The ceilings are high and still open, allowing the sun to beat down on her like a beacon announcing her location with the glimmering off the carbon fiber. She’s running and climbing as fast as she can, and her panting breath in my ear tells me she’s giving it her all.
“Easy baby.” I remind her as she vanishes from view behind thick vertical beams.
“You’re hunting me. I’m prey to the Reaper.” She laughs back between heavy breaths.
“You are my prey, and when I get you alone, I’m going to eat you like the big bad wolf.”
“Ooohhh what large teeth you have.” She jokes as her head pops out of a pile of materials that shine in the daylight, making her look almost ghostly.
“Better to bite you with, my dear.”
“Promise?” She giggles then disappears again.
She’s like a prairie dog going down in one location, then rising up in another as she banters with me through the Cardo. If I weren’t trying to make this look serious, I’d be rolling with laughter.
My beautiful, silly, sexy girl.
“I promise baby. But in all seriousness, Valentino came armed. Keep serious enough to stay alive please.”
“What a douche canoe.” She giggles then goes silent for a second. “I see him, he’s behind you looking pissed. You’re gonna have to murder me quicker than we thought.”
“I’m switching to killer mode baby, let’s make this a good show.”
“Roger that.”
Just the thought of blood on my hands, whether it’s fake or not, has me getting more excited as she dips down under a low break in the structure and bolts across an open room.
“It’s useless Recluse.” I shout to her loud enough that Valentino can hear me from his place half a football field behind me.
The prick isn’t made for handling terrain like this, and he’s having difficulties keeping up now that we’re on foot and in the trenches. A bullet will though, so he’s still a major threat, and I can’t forget that.
Lifting my visor so I can see better, I dip into a shaded spot and hunker down, taking myself out of view for a moment.
“Where’d ya go?” Dani asks in my helmet.
“I’m on your six, a click back. Go right into that open space, you see it?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re going to sprint into the middle of the room, then trip on something. Do it…now.”
“Am I going down?”
“Just for a few seconds, let me creep up closer out of sight, then I’m gonna grab at you and barely miss you. Got it?”
“Roger.”
“Kick my helmet when I try to touch you. Do it hard.”
Here we go. Let’s do this.
Crouching down, I pull out my blade from the sheath against my back and move closer to her as she looks back and forth, choosing her direction. When she makes a run for it, I come up and go for her at a full sprint.
The sunlight pouring in shines off my knife as I chase her down and watch her fall visored face first into a pile of metal and plaster. She screams out loudly as if she’s hurt, and if I didn’t know it was all an act I would be rushing to her to make sure she’s okay.
She writhes on the ground as I hop over some equipment and get closer, hunting her down, hunching over sinisterly as I raise the knife above my head. I’m almost at her as she tries to scramble to her feet, but falls down again, and this time I think it’s for real.
